This invention relates to musical instruments, and more particularly to an improved compact chord organ.
It is well known that chord organs include a treble keyboard section typically having two, three or more octaves, and a chord keyboard section typically having eight or 16 chords. Each of the keyboard sections have reed assemblies which include a plurality of openings that are normally closed by extending pallets of keys operative by a user. Each of the reed assembly openings have channels which communicate with respective reeds of varying lengths and thicknesses. When a key is depressed to lift its pallet from an opening, pressurized air is permitted to pass through the reed and exit through the reed assembly opening, thereby causing the desired note to be sounded.
Heretofore, in the mass production of chord organs, numerous components were provided which not only were costly to fabricate but also required much labor time to assemble. Further, with the employment of such numerous components, air losses were prevalent and resulted in the employment of more powerful motors requiring increased power. Accordingly, more material was essential in order to provide strength and stability to the organ. As a result of the foregoing, the costs of manufacture were high and warehouse space was wasted.
Further, in the prior art, the components utilized in the assembly of a chord organ included reed housings, chambers, reed boxes for connection to the chambers, reed plates, individual keys which had to be manually assembled with respect to the reed housings, means for securing the keys,, numerous joints associated with the organ components which required adhesive and sealing means, and various other components, many of which were metallic. The total weight of all the components in one typical model organ approximated 19 pounds and took more than 20 minutes for the manual assembly thereof as compared to a similar model organ of the present invention which weighed approximately 51/2 pounds and required approximately 6 minutes assembly time.